Incorporation of airbags into vehicles has created many design challenges for automotive designers. It is desirable to incorporate an airbag into an instrument panel in front of the vehicle passenger seat. When incorporating an airbag into an instrument panel it is necessary to provide the airbag cover portion in the instrument panel that will reliably and safely tear, such that the passenger is protected. To this end, a tear seam has generally been provided in the airbag cover portion of an instrument panel to insure that the airbag will safely deploy.
Vehicle designers prefer to have a continuous surface on the front face of the instrument panel whenever possible, so they would prefer to avoid having a tear seam in the instrument panel. Thus, recently there has been an effort to achieve a “seamless” design wherein there is no indication on the front face of the instrument panel that the airbag is behind the instrument panel. To achieve this design, tear seams or tear strips provided in the instrument panel are only provided on the under face, and not on the front face of the instrument panel.
While it is also desirable that the instrument panel be relatively stiff so as to properly secure an air bag support assembly thereto, it is also desirable that the surface of the surface of the instrument panel which faces the occupants of a vehicle be soft and smooth to the touch.
The instrument panel must perform the utilitarian function of breaking apart along its tear seam to allow the air bag to exit through the airbag portion of the instrument panel when deployed. The airbag cover portion of an instrument panel is often complex and difficult to assemble. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an improved instrument panel. Preferably, such an improved instrument panel would be soft and smooth to the touch, be less complex, and be easier to assemble than known instrument panels.